


Life After Death

by clgfanfic



Series: Soldier of Fortune Inc - Way He Talks [2]
Category: Soldier of Fortune Inc.
Genre: F/M, Het
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-11
Updated: 2012-11-11
Packaged: 2017-11-18 09:49:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/559642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clgfanfic/pseuds/clgfanfic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post "Last Chance."  After the plane crash Margo seeks out Benny Ray.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life After Death

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published in the zine Don't Ask, Don't Tell #2 under the pen name Caryn Mayo.

          Benny Ray reveled in the feel of the weights in his hands, the way his muscles responded to them.  In fact, he was acutely aware of everything happening to his body, and for good reason; they had almost all been killed in South America.  Chance _had_ died, though the doctor explained later that the man probably hadn't really been flat-lined when C.J. used his make-shift defibulator to shock his heart back into a normal rhythm.

          They had all come close to buying it before, but the plane crash was different – less personal, less acceptable.  It was one thing to go out doing the job, quite another to lose your life over a mechanical failure.  Over the four days since the crash, the sniper had found that he was more aware of his body, of colors and sounds and the tastes of food.  He knew the rush-induced effect would soon fade, but for now he was enjoying it.

          He just wished he had someone to share it with.  C.J. was an almost permanent fixture at the hospital with Chance.  Matt was in D.C., testifying before a closed Congressional committee about the photos they'd found, and Margo had disappeared to who-knew-where for three days.  _Probably went shopping_ , he guessed.  Shopping was close to sex for some women.

          He shook his head.  Where had that come from?

But he knew.  He was horny.

          He sighed.  Well, there was nothing he could do about that.  He and Mary Ellen had been officially divorced for months and she was dating, Lu Ann was still in Georgia, and he wasn't seeing anyone.  _Guess I'll just have to take care of things myself_ , he decided, finishing another set of ten curls with the heavy weights.

          He set the weights back on the stand and grabbed the towel draped across the end of the weight bench.  Wiping his face, he grinned at the memory of Margo's call earlier that morning.  She wanted to know how Chance was.

Fine, but he wasn't going anywhere for another few days.

Should she stop by and see him?

Yes.  He was probably getting damned tired of looking at C.J.'s face.

Was Matt back?

No.  He'd called last night, said the committee had more questions for him today, then he was going to have dinner with his brother, and catch a midnight flight to Michigan to visit his mother and sister for a couple of days.  He'd be back by the end of the week.

          She ended by saying that she'd be there to accompany him on his run tomorrow morning.  He'd told her to bring her swimsuit, he was planning a six-mile swim after the run.  "You're on," she'd replied.

          He'd also asked her how she was feeling.

"No more headache," she assured.

          The four of them would be ready for duty in another week, maybe two.  He wasn't so sure about Chance.  The doctors at the VA sounded optimistic, and Rico was there to help him with the physical therapy, but it had looked bad there for a little while.  He just hoped the man could make it back to the team.  He was in great shape though, and young, he should be able to pull it off.

Rolling his shoulders, Benny Ray headed for the basement stairs.  He needed a shower, then he'd see if he couldn't get the repairs to the Big Dog done before supper.

          _Supper_ , he thought.  What was he going to do about that?  He hated eating alone.

He draped the towel around his neck, then started up the steps.  As he reached the second floor where each team-member had their own suite, complete with a large bedroom, bath, and living room, he thought he heard Margo's Jaguar pull up and park, but she had no reason to drop in before tomorrow.  He ignored the tingle that buzzed in his balls when he thought about her.  They'd made love once, after the disaster in Bosnia, but she'd never sought him out again, and he'd managed to keep his feelings for her well-hidden.  No use letting them back out now.

Stepping into his bathroom, he turned on the shower, letting the water get warm while he stripped off his sweat-soaked t-shirt, shorts and jockstrap.  He tossed the dirty cloths into his hamper, then stepped into the shower, letting the hot water work its magic on his comfortably tired and sore muscles.

A half-hour later he was dressed again, this time in loose Levi's and a black t-shirt.  He remained barefoot.  Padding silently down the hall to the stairs, he paused, listening.  Someone was there.

He proceeded down the stairs to the ground floor, listening again.  Someone was in the basement.  _Must be Margo_ , he thought, unless Chance had tossed C.J. out…  He descended the stairs into the basement.  It was Margo.  She was sitting on the sofa, watching CNN.  She looked up and smiled at him.  "Hi."

"Hi," he replied.  "Thought you were goin' to the hospital."

"I did," she replied.  "Chance was sleeping.  Thought I'd go see him later."

Benny Ray nodded, heading into the kitchen.  "Was gonna fix myself some lunch, you want something?"

"Why don't we go out?"

He stopped and turned to face her.  She was so damned beautiful, the tight short-sleeve sweater and knit pants she wore only enhancing her perfect figure.  "Uh, yeah, sounds good."  He couldn't stop his gaze from caressing her breasts.

She stood as he walked back over to join her and felt her nipples harden as if he'd touched his lips to them instead of his only his gaze.  The strength and suddenness of her desire for him overwhelmed her and she took an unsteady step back, blinking rapidly.

He was instantly beside her, his arm around her shoulders to steady her.  "You okay?" he asked, his tone worried.

She smiled and nodded, saying, "Yeah, sorry."  She wondered if he could sense the meltdown taking place in her lower belly.

He released her and took a step away.  _Always the gentleman_ , she thought, wondering if he'd be willing to make love to her again.  She looked up at him.  "How hungry are you?" she asked, trying not to sound too pushy.

He shrugged, looking a little uncomfortable.  "Worked out.  I can eat."

"Would you mind waiting a little while?" she asked.

He looked up, meeting her eyes.  "Sure, something you need to do?"

With a soft moan she closed the space between them.  She curled her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek to his chest with a shaky sigh.  He felt so warm and good to the touch.

He heard the need in the sound and wrapped her in an embrace, pulling her tightly against him.  She tipped her head back to look into his eyes, her hunger perfectly clear.

"You sure that's what you want?" he asked, trembling slightly.

"Yes," she whispered as she pressed her slim hips against him, feeling the hard swell that proclaimed him man.

He closed his eyes and pulled in a deep breath, almost unable to believe his ears.  His lips, when they touched hers, were hot and hard.  She clutched at him almost frantically as his tongue meshed with hers.

"Touch me," she ordered when they stopped to pull air into their empty lungs.

He reached under her sweater, cupping her lace-covered breasts in his hands, squeezing her nipples through the soft material.

She could feel the heat of his fingers as they touched her, a fire that was echoed in her belly.  She needed him.  She needed him _now_.  It was an all-consuming need that had no boundaries.  Pressing herself against his hands, she looked up, meeting his intense, questioning gaze.  She felt herself drowning in his eyes.  She knew he loved her, but he'd never say so.  Margo moaned, throbbing, shivering under his touch.

Without a word he scooped her up, carried her up the stairs to the suite she used.  He set her down in her bedroom, reaching under her sweater again.  His palms flattened and began to rotate in slow circles over her still hard nipples.  It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to lift her arms and let him slip her sweater over her head.  Her hands cupped his head as his mouth trailed down her throat.

"You're so beautiful," he said, raising his heavily-lidded gaze to meet hers.

"Thank you," she breathed, the circular stroking of his thumbs on her nipples making anything more impossible.

She kicked her sandals off.  He tugged her pants down next, moving them gently over her hips so she could step out of them, but leaving her bra and panties in place.  Then he picked her up again and laid her down on the bed.

He couldn't take his eyes off her, off her half-hidden breasts.  They were round and porcelain white.  The nipples were small, and hard, poking against the black lacy fabric.  His gaze delved lower, taking in the perfect skin, the narrow waist, navel, coming to rest on the top of her panties.  He took a deep breath and looked up, meeting her eyes.

"Kiss me," she pleaded.

In a quick, fluid movement he joined her on the bed, stretched out beside her, supporting himself on one elbow so he could look into her eyes.

"Kiss me, Benny Ray," she moaned again.

"Whatever you want, darlin'," he groaned, dipping his head, running his lips across her shoulder before claiming her lips.  Their tongues meshed in a hot coiling foreplay.  He pulled away first.

Margo sighed as his mouth made contact with her bare skin, hot and sweet.  He bent down, kissed the closer nipple through the lace of her bra.  When she moaned, he lifted his head to watch her expression as he kissed the other one.

She inched her hand down and cupped one cheek of his buttocks.  It felt hard and exciting under the soft material.  "Get out–"

He moved, touched her lips with his fingertips.  She kissed them.  His lips brushed feather-light against the corner of her mouth, then across her cheek and to her temple.

Margo turned her head so quickly that he didn't have time to draw away.  Her mouth caught his with a wild determination.  He tensed, but relaxed quickly, his tongue stroking deeply into her mouth.

Her hunger became his.

"You are going to get undressed, aren't you?" she asked when their lips finally parted.

He smoothed her hair away from her face, his touch gossamer light.  His gentleness always surprised her, made her feel powerful and deeply loved at the same time.  It was a unique sensation, one that she realized she could easily become addicted to.

"In a sec," he said, voice thick with promise.  He held her gaze while he manipulated her bra.  The brush of his fingers over her freed breasts sent erotic shivers down her spine.  She closed her eyes when he cupped one in his hand and squeezed softly.  He kissed her eyes, her brow, her cheeks, frantic kisses that burned and tingled.  His mouth grazed the corner of hers, and she turned toward him blindly, wanting to devour his mouth.

"Easy," he cooed.  "Slow.  Go slow."

"I'm on fire," she whispered, her fingers curling into his back and the bedspread.

"So am I," he breathed against her cheek.  "But let me love you.  Let me make it good for you."

She savored the feel of his hands as they closed over her breasts.  Then he lowered his head and touched his tongue to one pale auburn areola.

"Oh yes," she gasped, her hips grinding into the bed.

He caught the tip of one nipple in his mouth, his lips teasing and tormenting her.  She arched against his mouth, her hands coming up to caress the sides of his face.

"Benny Ray," she pleaded, "I need to touch you.  Please."

She watched as he rolled off the bed.  Standing, he quickly pulled the black T-shirt over his head, dropping it on the floor.  She grinned when he blushed at her hungry look.  Licking her lips as he unbuttoned his jeans and pulled them off, she opened her arms to him, but he moved to the foot of the bed instead.  He started at her ankles, sliding his fingers slowly up her calves.  He stroked higher, past her knees, over her thighs.  His fingertips brushed her hips and she lifted them, allowing him to pull her black bikini panties off.  His fingers sought and found her delicate inner flesh.  A warm sensation curled through her, but she couldn't tell him how he made her feel.  It would change their relationship forever.

He touched her, lightly and she opened her legs for him, arching her back, silently begging him to enter her.  At the first stroke of his tongue she exploded; her body arched high her throat strained with a cry of gratification too deep to utter.

She shuddered back to full awareness slowly.  He still knelt beside her.

"Why'd you do that?" she asked, reaching out to stroke his already hard nipple.  Her fingers moved easily through the soft hair that dusted his chest.  "I want you.  You know that, don't you?"

"You were wound so tight," he explained, capturing her hand, kissing her palm.  "I didn't think I should make ya wait."

And then he was moving again, kissing, fondling, exploring her long past the point where experience told her he should have needed to enter her.  Mary Ellen had trained him well, and she silently thanked the woman.  She writhed when he used his tongue to taste and tease her.

She'd always known his body was magnificent, but at last she had free rein to discover its glories.  With hands and mouth, with her entire body, she explored him – every inch, except for what lay hidden inside his snug briefs.  His skin flowed over muscle that rippled beneath her greedy fingers.  He moaned softly, letting her know she was challenging his control.

Then he was moving, kneeling between her legs again.  When his tongue plunged deep inside the welcoming hotness of her body, she cried out, pleasure overtaking her for a second time.  She bucked against his face, then collapsed, panting.

He was beside her, kissing her.  She lifted her fingertip to trace the dark, winged shape of his eyebrow.  He moved his head to coax her finger to his lips.  She felt the silky stroke of his tongue.  He reached out and pulled her flush against his chest.  She gave her mouth to him in a moaning kiss that was a mix of surrender and invitation.

His hands moved, his touch light, seemingly everywhere at once.  He touched his mouth to the pale auburn nipple again, then sucked, gently at first, then harder as her touch quickened his flesh to a tiny point of pure pleasure.

Her eyes followed his heavy-lidded gaze down to where his fingers were parting her thighs, tracing up and down the silken delta between them.

"Is that what you want?" he asked in a husky undertone.

"Yes… now… please."

He rose from the bed to strip off his briefs.  Then he was beside her again, his mouth devouring hers.

"Benny Ray."  Her tone was agony as she reached for him.  Then, as if surprised to feel his hardness pressed against her stomach, she gasped.

"See what you do to me?" he asked thickly, his hand guiding hers to his straining manhood, his fingers parting her thighs again to delve into the soft auburn down to her femininity.  He kissed her.

Margo gasped her pleasure into his mouth with each sweet, unfurling stroke of his fingers.  "Benny Ray, please.  Stop.  I'm going to–"

"Go with it."

Desperately she arched her hips upward to the ever greater pleasure of his touch.  Dipping inside on each downstroke, he increased the erotic tempo.

"Let it come, darlin'."

Her breath came in sharp little pants as her surrender to his whispered pleas lifted her ever higher until she climaxed for the third time, her breath coming in long, shuddering gasps as her hips pressed up, her muscles trying to pull his fingers in deeper.

"Damn, Margo," Benny Ray said as her fingers curled and uncurled on his hardness, still needing more.  "I knew you'd be like this, ready for everything I want to give you."

When she drifted back down to the golden glow of reality Benny Ray brushed her lips with a feathery kiss and lazily resumed his sensual stroking.

"Oh, yes."  Margo sucked in a breath as the spell of his touch wove over and into her again, warm and sinuous like slow fire in her veins.  She felt his hardened manhood throb and jump in her hand.  She caressed him, the silky feel of him arousing her even more.  "Now, damn it," she breathed.  "Inside me."

He rolled over on top of her and Margo opened her legs as he covered her.  He stared down into her eyes, brushing the apex of her thighs with his hardness.  The undiluted desire he saw there was all it took.  He fell in love with her all over again.

She gasped as his hips jerked, trying to capture him.  She pulled him close, biting his shoulder lightly.  "You're making me crazy."

"Soon, darlin', soon," he whispered, trying to kiss her.

"Now," she growled, thrusting her hips up hard, trapping his hardness between their bellies.  She reached out, taking hold of him, guiding him to where she wanted him.

He thrust his hips, but she held him, refusing him entrance, making him burn.  He tried again, denied.  He groaned, but it ended in a soft cry, almost a whimper, as he felt her soft hand guide him to touch her most private part.  She was slick and ready, and with another muted cry, he slipped his flared head inside of her.  She was tight, so tight and hot, and he fought for the control he needed to go slow.  His lips dusted kisses on her neck as he pressed deeper into her.  When he was buried, he withdrew slowly, then plunged deep inside her center.  She reveled in his strength, hot and pulsing.

He leaned down to kiss her.  Then his hips began to move, slowly and deliberately.

She tossed her head, feeling him expand inside of her.  She caught his rhythm as if she'd known it always, rising to meet him, falling back, the muscles of her belly contracting and relaxing with ever-expanding tension.  She locked her legs around his buttocks and whispered soft words of encouragement that coaxed him into the long plunging thrusts that propelled him faster, faster.

"Margo…"  He was unable to say more.  He could only feel, feel as he'd never felt before.

She moaned and clung to him, her hips pounding against his as they moved together.

_I love you.  God, I love you, Margo._

They climaxed together.  The sensation so completed her, so merged her body with his that it left her weak with joy and awe.  She exhaled in one long sigh and dropped slowly back to earth.

Benny Ray collapsed next to her and they shifted so that he hold her, spoon fashion, the front of his body curving against the back of hers.  His arms were around her, one beneath her head, with his hand on her breast, the other arm across her waist, his hand snug between her thighs.

He wiggled his fingers.  "Wanna go for five?"

She squeezed her legs together, trapping his hand.  "No," she said emphatically.

He went very still.

"Benny Ray," she scolded.  "I feel so good I can't imagine more.  That's all."

He grunted softly in reply, but moved his hand onto her hip.

She wiggled back against him.  "You're very good at this," she complimented.

"Thank you, ma'am," he replied.

She could feel the heat of his blush.

"Think it's more the effect of life after death."

"What?" she asked.

"Surviving that plane crash," he explained.  "I don't know about you, but I've been livin' life like the… resolution's been cranked up."

"Mmm," she replied.  "I know what you mean.  But this was more than that."

 _Don't say somethin' we'll both regret later_ , he thought.

She waited and when he didn't reply she continued, "It's that, but it's being with you – with someone I've gone over the fence with."

He nodded.  That was safe enough.  "Yep.  Means you don't have t' hide."

"Exactly," she agreed.  But there was more.  She wasn't at all sure why, but she had definitely developed feelings for Benny Ray Riddle, feelings that rivaled those she harbored for Matt.  Could she have both?  It was like an impossible dream, but one worth considering, striving for.  Of course she hadn't even managed to renew a physical relationship with Matt, and she couldn't talk about the one she had with Benny Ray.  Maybe dreams belonged to the shadows, someplace where she could embrace them out of the light of day.

"You still hungry?" she asked.

"You bet," he replied, gently kissing the back of her shoulder.

She closed her eyes and sighed.  "Why don’t we get something, then drop by the hospital?"

"Sounds good."  He rolled over and sat up on the side of the bed.

She rolled onto her back, looking up at him.  She reached out, her hand on his arm.  "I was thinking I'd spend the night here."

He looked down at her, his expression confused but hopeful.

"I'd like it if you could stay with me," she added.

He swallowed, his breath caught in his throat.  He nodded.

She smiled.

 _Whatever you want, Margo_ , he thought.  _All you have to do is ask and I'll do it, be it, find it or kill it_.

"Guess I better take a shower."

He nodded again.  "I will too," he said, though the last thing he wanted to do was wash the scent of her off his skin.

"Okay," she said, sitting up.  "I'll meet you downstairs in… half an hour?"

"I'll be there," he promised.


End file.
